Dinosaur National Monument (Uintah County, Utah)

 

The prime destination of this week's trip was Dinosaur National Monument, which resides in both eastern Utah and western Colorado. The drive from my last stop was relatively short and entering the valley where sits the westernmost visitor center, Quarry Visitor Center, I begin to see the appeal of this place. 

The landscape tells the tale of ancient seabeds turned up during cataclysmic geologic events of the past. Red and white layers cover those angular rock faces that shroud the valley before me. I can't wait to explore.

After checking into the visitor's center and having a short chat with one of the park rangers, I form a plan for the day. As always, the rangers are incredibly friendly and helpful. I return to the jeep and take the road behind and above the visitor's center to the quarry wall facility. It is essentially, a building constructed around what I will soon find to be the most dense concentration of fossilized dinosaur bones I've ever imagined.

Inside the quarry wall has thousands of fossils partially exposed. It's approximately 150 yards long and from top to bottom probably 20 yards tall sitting at fairly consistent sixty degree incline. I've seen fossilized dinosaur bones before, but never in this condition or with this concentration. It seems the paleontologists decided to leave their work half complete to allow the general populace a chance to see these artifacts as they were originally found. Rangers and educational displays offer insight to the many visitors, including a number of children, on the awe-inspiring site in front of us.

After leaving quarry wall, I decide to visit a couple of petroglyphs sites I noted on the park map. I knew there were examples of rock art here, but I had no idea how much. The first site is just a half-mile or so down the road. It's house in a small cave carved from the red sandstone, which probably served as a dwelling for the ancient Fremont People that inhabited this area between 1800 and 800 years ago. The walls of this small cave are decorated with a number of humanoid anthropomorphs, some of which appear to have a red stain applied. Very cool site.

Driving further into the valley and eventually onto some muddy clay roads, I reach the next site. The ranger mentioned that this one would require a bit of hiking and scrambling and he wasn't kidding. A short trail leads up to the hillside where I see the first panel carved onto the red cliff. The variety of forms here is quite amazing. From humanoids to lizards to spirals and other figures, the artist(s) possessed a great talent.

Making my way along the faint trail in the clay below the red cliff, I work my way around the the small mountain. Art decorates many of the flat surfaces. A few panels are truly mesmerizing and include very precise and distinct lizard forms. However, the forms that catch my attention the most are humanoid faces in a style I have never seen in person, but only in books. These faces scattered all along the cliff appear in styles I would associate with the Aztecs and Mayans - extremely stylized. I'm not specifically aware of any incursions of these more southern cultures into this area, but perhaps there is some ancient connection.

As I make my way down the cliff, the rain, which has been threatening for a while begins to fall a bit more steadily. The red clay builds up on my hiking shoes with every step. I pop out onto the clay road a few dozen yards from where I left the jeep. Time to head for my next destination within the park before closing out the day. I've only experienced a taste of this park, but I'm already in love with it.